Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-01-06

can feel that nervous excitement
weighs upon the crowd. = A low rumbl-
ing Is heard. It ia the black carriage
that bears the condemned man. 1t stops
at the foot of the scaffold; and the crimi-
nal is painfully climbing the twelve high
steps Ct the dismal scaffold, leaning ON
the arm of priest. Another priest pre-
cedes him-lifting very high an i'm.
mense crucifix, toward which the con-
demned man strives to turn his terror.
stricken face. Alvarez Olivia is not yet
twenty-five years old; aud it was be.
lieved that the savage energy he had
displayed in committing his crime, to-
gether with his vigorous youth, would
give him strength to face death. But
nothing of the kind is now shown by
him, and really it was too much to ex-
pect of man who knew his fate forty
eight hours ago, and who, while listen
ing to the funeral chants in the prison
chapel. must have beheld all kinds of
hideous visions passing before him.
This rule of obliging the condemned to
listen, two nights preceding the execu.
tion, to an interlninable series of prayers,
requiems. De Profundis chants, uttered
for the repose OF his soul by his fellow
criminals-seems to me something afro
cious; and can see in it the last vestige
of the ferocious medieval mysticism of
Spain, with all its unconscious cruelty.
As / stood on an elevation overlooking
the scaffold, was able to observe all
the details of the last scene of the TRACE
dy. The condemned man mechanically
yielded himself up to the executioner.
The latter sethim down at the foot of the
post, with his back to it, and then tied
his hands and feet hard and fast. He
did all this without hurrying himself in
the least--and with all that dignified in.
difference which characterizes the Span.
ish functionary in the discharge of his
duty. If the preparations had lasted
even few seconds longer, l believe /
should have lost all of my own self.con.
troll. could hear my heart humping
in my breast, and every moment or two
something like q veil came before my
eyes. You could not hear even whis-
per in the crowd. While one of the
priests pressed crucifix to the colorless
lips Of the sufferer, anotherwas murmur-
ing words of consolation aud hope into
his ear. But the wretched man was not
listening. His expressionless face had
a waxsn palor; and his eyes, as they
wandered over the ocean of faces before
him, already seemed dim with the dim
ness of death.
He started considerably when the exc
cutioner placed the iron collar about his
neck; and observed his mouth con-
tract. Then, however, white cover.
ing thrown over his features hid them
from further observation. The execu.
tioner then gave two or three turns of
the screw connected with the instrument
of death. The bones of the neck cracked,
long trembling ran through the whole
body; the arms twisted outward, the
legs inward. Alvarez Olivia was dead.
The priests took off their square caps,
as if to salute the soul passing by, and
the executioner removed the covering
that concealed the dead mans face. The
face which had been SO pallid moment
before was now purple. The tumiied
tongue protruded from the mouth, and
the bloody eyes had spirited out of their
sockets. The head had fallen slightly
toward the right shoulder, and the black
mitre with white cross, that had been
placed upon it, seemed about to fall off.
The crowd ebbed away silently, evi.
IDENTIFY much affected, while two gend.
armes with rifles, mounted guard at the
foot of the scaffold. where the corpse
was to remain until evening, when the
corporation of female mourners would
escort it to the cemetery OF executed
criminals, with long, piercing cries of
lamentation, like the gu! yut yu! of
Arab Translation from Paris
Figaro.